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  • HandoutHandout 1: Supply & Shopping List

    Handout 1: Supply & Shopping List

    Okay so before anything else, don't let this list scare you. You do not need to buy the store out. I'm going to split things into what you actually need to start (budget tier) and what's nice once you decide you love this (nice-to-have tier). I over-bought my first year and it was a whole thing, so learn from me.

    ---

    The Actual Basics (budget tier)

    A big pot. Deep enough to cover jars by 1-2 inches of water. If you already own a big stockpot with a rack or even a folded dish towel in the bottom so jars aren't sitting on bare metal, you're set. You do not need to buy an official "canner" to start. For sure for sure.

    Jars. Regular mason jars, pint or quart, whatever your recipe calls for. Buy new or use ones you already have kicking around, as long as there's no chips or cracks on the rim. Check that rim with your finger, not just your eyes.

    Lids. The flat two-piece kind, band and flat lid. Buy new flats every time. I don't care if you saved fifty cents reusing an old one, it's not worth a failed seal. The bands you can reuse for years.

    A jar lifter. The tongs shaped like a claw, made for pulling hot jars out of boiling water. Don't try to do this with regular tongs. I've seen it, it does not go well.

    A funnel. Wide-mouth, fits down into the jar opening. Keeps the mess off the rim, which matters more than people think.

    Basic kitchen stuff you probably own. A ladle, a wooden spoon, clean dish towels, a timer (your phone is fine).

    The food and sugar/vinegar for your recipe. This is its own handout, but budget for it, produce is often the biggest line item.

    Local note: American Fork and Lehi both have grocery stores with a canning aisle in late summer, that's your easiest jars-and-lids run. Costco has flats in bulk sometimes but not always the right size, check before you drive out there just for that. If you're doing peaches, the roadside stands up around late August are worth it, but only if you're processing within a day or two. Those peaches don't wait around for your schedule.

    ---

    Nice-to-Have (once you're hooked)

    A magnetic lid wand. Little stick with a magnet that lifts the flat lids out of hot water without you burning your fingers. Cheap and genuinely useful.

    A canning rack that fits your pot, if you're using a regular stockpot instead of an official canner. Keeps jars off the bottom so they don't crack from direct heat.

    A jar wrench or that little rubber grippy thing for opening jars later, not canning-related really, just handy.

    Pretty labels. I'll be honest, I have a whole stack of nice printed labels I designed myself and I still write on masking tape instead because it's faster and I'm always doing this at 9pm. Buy the fancy labels if it makes you happy, just don't expect yourself to actually use them. Ask me how I know.

    Extra lids, bought in March. This is a genuine Toni quirk, I buy lids in the off season now because one August I ran out mid-batch at 10pm and drove to two different stores and came home with the wrong size. My husband has stopped commenting on the lid drawer.

    ---

    What you do NOT need

    You do not need a pressure canner for this class. Water bath canning is for high-acid stuff, jams, pickles, that world. Pressure canning is a different animal and honestly not one I teach, that's green beans and meats and I leave it to people who know it better than me.

    You also do not need to sterilize your jars ahead of time if your recipe processes 10 minutes or more. The boiling water does that job. I wasted a whole year of my life doing an extra sterilizing step I didn't need.

    Bring what you've got, we'll fill in gaps in class.

  • HandoutHandout 2: Water Bath Canning Cheat Sheet

    Handout 2: Water Bath Canning Cheat Sheet

    Print this, stick it to the fridge, get jam on it. That's what it's for.

    This is the quick version of everything we cover in class. If you forget the class but remember this page, you'll still be fine.

    ---

    The Rule That Matters Most

    Water bath canning is for high-acid foods only. Jam, jelly, fruit, pickles, salsa with enough vinegar in it, that kind of thing. Low-acid stuff (green beans, meat, most vegetables on their own) needs a pressure canner, which I don't teach and don't love winging. If you're not sure your recipe is high-acid enough, look it up before you start, don't guess.

    Stick to that and the botulism fear you've probably heard about mostly doesn't apply to you. That's the low-acid, pressure-canner world. Different animal.

    ---

    Basic Steps, In Order

    1. Wash jars, lids, and rings. Hot soapy water is fine.
    2. You do not need to sterilize jars if you're processing 10 minutes or more. The boiling water bath does that job. Don't waste an hour on this step, I did for years.
    3. Fill jars, leaving the headspace your recipe calls for (usually 1/4 inch for jam, 1/2 inch for most other things).
    4. Wipe the rim. Every jar, every time. One smear of jam on that rim and your seal fails. This is the step people rush and it's the one that matters most. For sure for sure.
    5. Lid on, ring on finger-tight. Not cranked down. Air needs a way to escape while it processes, and if you crank the ring like you're locking in a submarine hatch, it won't seal right. I did this my whole first year.
    6. Lower jars into boiling water, fully covered by an inch or two.
    7. Process for the time your recipe says, starting the clock once the water's back to a full boil.
    8. Lift jars out, set on a towel, don't touch the rings, walk away for 12+ hours.

    ---

    Altitude Adjustment (Don't Skip This)

    American Fork sits around 4,600 feet, and altitude changes your processing time. I'll be honest, I don't have the chart memorized, I look it up every time. You should too. Most recipes have an altitude adjustment table printed right on them, or you can find one from your extension office. Add time, don't guess low.

    ---

    Lids vs. Rings

    • Rings: reuse them, no problem, they're just holding things in place.
    • Lids (the flat part with the sealing compound): one use only. I know it's fifty cents. It's not worth a failed seal over fifty cents. Buy new lids every time.

    ---

    How You Know It Sealed

    Lid gets sucked down flat, sometimes with a little "tink" sound as it cools. Press the center after 12 hours. No give, no popping under your finger, it's sealed. If it flexes at all, it didn't seal, refrigerate that jar and eat it soon.

    ---

    Common Mistakes (Ask Me How I Know)

    • Skipping the rim wipe.
    • Over-tightening rings "to be safe." Wrong direction.
    • Reusing lids.
    • Rushing the boil time because the room's hot and you're tired. Full boil, full time, every time.
    • Forgetting an ingredient. I once did a whole batch of pickles with no salt. Don't ask.

    ---

    The One Thing I Want You to Walk Away Knowing

    Water bath canning, done with acid rules respected, is not the danger everyone thinks it is. That fear is mostly borrowed from a completely different kind of canning. Wipe your rims, don't overtighten, use fresh lids, and trust the process. You've got this.

  • WorksheetHandout 3: Your Canning Day Checklist

    Handout 3: Your Canning Day Checklist

    Print this, bring it to your kitchen, check things off as you go. This is the same order I do it in at home, for sure for sure.

    ---

    Before You Start

    • [ ] Jars checked for cracks or chips on the rim (a chip there means no seal, no exceptions)
    • [ ] New flat lids purchased — not the ones from last year's batch sitting in the drawer
    • [ ] Rings, any condition, reused is fine
    • [ ] Big pot filled with enough water to cover jars by 1-2 inches
    • [ ] Jar lifter, magnetic lid wand, funnel, ladle, kitchen towel (or two)
    • [ ] Recipe checked for altitude adjustment — we're up around 4,600 feet here in American Fork, so processing times need a bump. I always look up the exact chart number, I don't have it memorized and neither should you, just don't skip it.

    While You're Cooking

    • [ ] Fruit or pickles prepped and ready before the pot starts heating (don't make hot jars wait around empty)
    • [ ] Pectin measured if using it — store-bought is fine, I use it every time, don't let anybody make you feel bad about that
    • [ ] Scummy foam skimmed off the top if there is any
    • [ ] Jars filled leaving correct headspace (check your recipe, it varies)

    The Step Everyone Skips

    • [ ] Rim wiped clean, every single jar, no exceptions. One drop of jam or brine on that rim and your seal fails. This is the one step that actually matters most and it takes five seconds.

    Lids and Rings

    • [ ] Lid placed on jar
    • [ ] Ring screwed on fingertip tight. Not cranked down. Air needs a way out during processing or you'll get jars that won't seal and you'll spend an evening confused about why, like I did my whole first year.

    Processing

    • [ ] Jars lowered into boiling water, fully covered by 1-2 inches
    • [ ] Timer set for the full time (adjusted for altitude, see above)
    • [ ] Stay near the pot. Steam is the sneaky one, it'll get you worse than the water will. Keep your face and wrists back when you lift the lid off the canner.

    After Processing

    • [ ] Jars lifted out with the jar lifter, set on a towel on the counter, not a cold surface
    • [ ] Left alone for 12-24 hours. Don't press the lids, don't tighten the rings, don't move them around. Just walk away.
    • [ ] Listen for the tink. That's the sound of a seal happening. Still one of my favorite sounds, don't care how that sounds.

    The Next Day Check

    • [ ] Lid pressed gently in the center — if it doesn't flex or pop, it sealed
    • [ ] Any unsealed jars: refrigerate and eat within a couple weeks, or reprocess with a new lid
    • [ ] Rings removed for storage (jars seal on the lid, not the ring, so you don't need it on there long term)
    • [ ] Jar labeled with contents and date — masking tape and a marker works fine, I say this as someone with a drawer full of fancy labels I've never once used

    ---

    One reminder before you go: everything in this class is high-acid, water-bath stuff. Jam, pickles, that world. If you follow the acid rules here you don't need to lose sleep over botulism, that's a low-acid, pressure-canning problem and a different class entirely, one I don't teach. Ask me if you want a name for that.

  • HandoutHandout 4: Troubleshooting Guide

    Handout 4: Troubleshooting Guide

    Something went sideways? Good, you're a real canner now. Every single one of these happened to me first, so let's fix it and move on.

    1. The lid didn't seal. Most common one, and usually it's a drip of jam or brine on the rim that snuck past your wipe. Refrigerate that jar and eat it this week, it's not a food safety problem, it just won't keep long-term unsealed. Or reprocess with a new lid within 24 hours if you catch it fast. Wipe the rim every time, for sure for sure. I mean it, every jar, even the ones you're sure are clean.

    2. Rings won't come off, or they're rusted stuck. Warm water and a little patience. Don't force it and crack the jar. Also, going forward, don't crank rings down like you're sealing a submarine hatch. Finger tight is the actual instruction and I ignored it my whole first year because it felt safer. It's not, the air needs a way to escape while the jar processes.

    3. Jam never set. It happens even with pectin, even with a recipe you've made ten times. I still can't always tell you why one batch sets firm and the next stays loose. If it stays soup, you have peach sauce now, congratulations, put it on ice cream and tell people it was on purpose.

    4. Fruit floated to the top of the jar. Cosmetic, not dangerous. Usually means the fruit wasn't packed tight enough or the syrup was too light. Pack it snugger next time. Still tastes fine, just looks a little sad.

    5. Jars broke or cracked in the canner. Usually a temperature shock, cold jar into boiling water, or a jar with a hidden chip you didn't catch. Check jars for cracks before you fill them. Let jars warm up a little before they go into a full boil, don't go straight from the fridge.

    6. Siphoning, that's when liquid leaks out during processing. Usually you overfilled, or the water boiled too hard, or you pulled the jars out too fast at the end. Turn the boil down to a steady roll, not a violent one, and let the jars sit in the water five minutes off heat before you lift them out.

    7. Cloudy brine on pickles. Could be hard water, and up here our water is plenty hard, or it could be table salt with additives instead of canning salt. Use canning or pickling salt, not iodized. If it's just the hard water, it's usually harmless, but skip it next time by using distilled or filtered water for the brine.

    8. You forgot the salt, or the sugar, or something. It happens. I did an entire batch of pickles with no salt at all, discovered it in November, tasted like sad wet cucumbers. Brett tried to be nice about it and I made him stop, it was too depressing to watch. Lesson: write your recipe steps down and check them off, even the ones you think you'll remember.

    9. Lids popped days later instead of on the counter. Some take longer than others, that's fine, give it up to 24 hours before you worry. If it's flat and doesn't flex when you press the center, you're sealed. If it still flexes after a day, see problem #1.

    10. Didn't process long enough for our elevation. American Fork sits around 4,600 feet, and altitude changes your processing time. I never have this memorized, I look it up on the chart every single time, no shame in that. Get the adjustment chart from the extension office or your recipe source and check it before you start, not after.

    When in doubt about anything acid-related, high acid stuff like jam and pickles is what we're doing in a water bath, and that's genuinely low risk if you follow the rules. The scary stuff you hear about is low-acid food done wrong in a pressure canner, a whole different animal that I don't teach and won't pretend to. If something still feels off, throw the jar out. Jars are cheap. Peace of mind is worth more.

  • podcast_scriptClass podcast — episode 1

    Audio coming soon — show notes below.

    JESS: —okay wait, back up, you can't just say "and then it exploded" and move on.

    TONI: It didn't explode-explode. It exploded a little. There's a difference.

    JESS: Is there.

    TONI: For sure for sure. A full explosion is a bad day. This was more like a jar going "pfft, no thank you" and losing some liquid over the side. I got a picture of it actually. Grandma next to her, teenager next to her, both just cracking up. Best photo I took all year and I shot two weddings.

    JESS: This is Water Bath Canning for Beginners, episode one, I'm Jess, I run the podcast side of things for Utah Community Learning, and that's Toni Carr, who teaches the class and apparently photographs jar disasters for fun.

    TONI: I bring my camera everywhere. Occupational hazard.

    JESS: So before we get into what people are actually going to learn, I want to know how you got into this, because you told me before we started recording that your mom bought jam at the store.

    TONI: My mom bought jam at the store like a normal person. I thought canning was a pioneer village thing, like something you'd watch a lady in a bonnet do. And then Brett and I moved into the ward and this neighbor showed up on my porch with a jar of peach jam, still warm, and just said "I had extra." Like it was nothing.

    JESS: Extra.

    TONI: Extra! Like peach jam is a thing that just happens to a person. I ate the whole jar over three days with a spoon standing at my counter, and I remember thinking, I have to figure out how she did that.

    JESS: And did she teach you?

    TONI: Sort of. She never wrote anything down. I'd ask her a question, when do I know the jam's set, and she'd just say "you'll know." Which I hated. I wanted a number. I wanted a thermometer reading, a time, something.

    JESS: And now?

    TONI: Now I catch myself saying the exact same thing to my own students and I have to stop and laugh at myself. Because she was right, you kind of do just know, but that is the most useless possible sentence to say to a beginner and I said it anyway last month.

    JESS: Okay so for people listening who are not signed up yet, or who are but want something they can use today, give me one real tip. Something they could do this week with no class.

    TONI: Wipe the rim of the jar before you put the lid on. Every single time. That's it. That's the tip.

    JESS: That feels like it should be more complicated.

    TONI: Everyone thinks that. It's the step people rush past because it seems like nothing, just a little drip of jam or brine on the rim, who cares. But that drip is exactly what keeps the lid from sealing right. Wipe the rim, use a clean cloth or a paper towel, every jar, every time. If you only take one thing from this whole podcast, that's the one.

    JESS: Now can we talk about the fear thing, because I know that's kind of the whole reason this class exists.

    TONI: It is. I was so scared my first summer. Not exaggerating, I barely slept. I called the extension office twice, I made Brett stand there while I checked every seal like I was defusing something. And it was mostly unnecessary fear. Water bath canning is for high acid stuff, jam, pickles, that world. If you follow the acid rules you're fine. The scary botulism stories you hear are almost always low acid food done wrong in a pressure canner, which is a totally different thing and honestly not something I teach.

    JESS: You're pretty upfront about that gap.

    TONI: I don't touch pressure canning. Green beans, meat, all that, I leave it to people who actually know it. I'm not going to pretend otherwise on a podcast.

    JESS: Fair. Okay, last thing, what's session two?

    TONI: Session two we actually make jam. Real peaches if I can get them, it's a little early in the season but I'll try. We'll talk pectin, and yes, I use the store-bought kind, I know some people get weird about that, we'll talk about it. And we're finally going to deal with altitude, because we're up around 4,600 feet here in American Fork and that changes your processing time. I have to look up the exact chart every single time, I don't have it memorized, I'm not going to pretend I do.

    JESS: Honest to a fault.

    TONI: Low key it's just easier than lying.

  • podcast_scriptClass podcast — episode 2

    Audio coming soon — show notes below.

    JESS: —wait, say that part again, because I don't think people are going to believe you burned yourself on air, not water.

    TONI: It's true. It's the steam that gets you. Everybody's so worried about the pot of water, they respect the water, they're careful with the water. Nobody respects the steam.

    JESS: Okay for people just joining us, we're two episodes into Water Bath Canning for Beginners, this is the podcast that goes with the class, I'm Jess, I produce this thing and mostly just try to keep Toni on topic.

    TONI: She does not keep me on topic.

    JESS: I really don't. So last week was jars and lids and the whole rings-versus-lids thing, this week we said we'd get into the actual process, the water bath part.

    TONI: Right, the big pot. So here's the burn story, since we're already there. This was maybe my second year. I've got the canner going, lid's on, jars are down in the water, and I lean over to check something, and I reach right over the steam vent. Not touching anything hot. Just reached through the steam coming off the top.

    JESS: And.

    TONI: And it's like touching a stove burner. Instant. I had a mark on my wrist for like three weeks, and I had a wedding to shoot that whole time, so I'm wearing this bracelet trying to cover it up, and every bride's mom is like "oh that's a pretty bracelet" and I'm like thanks, hides a canning injury.

    JESS: That's genuinely useful though, because I think people picture the water as the danger.

    TONI: The water's the danger you can see. The steam's the sneaky one. So when you're lifting that lid off the canner, lift it away from you, let the steam go the other direction, don't lean over the top like you're checking on a casserole. I do this exact thing in class, I make everybody practice lifting the lid before there's even water in the pot, just so their hands know the motion.

    JESS: Low stakes practice.

    TONI: For sure for sure. Nobody's getting hurt practicing with an empty pot.

    JESS: Okay so give me the one thing, if somebody's listening to this and never signs up for the class, what's the one habit that actually matters.

    TONI: Wipe the rim. Every single time, before the lid goes on. Doesn't matter if you don't see anything on there. Jam especially, it splashes when you're filling the jar and you get this little film on the rim you can't even see half the time, and that's enough to break the seal. I've had jars not seal and spent twenty minutes trying to figure out why and it's always that. Just wipe it. Clean rag or a paper towel, run it around the whole edge, then put the lid on.

    JESS: That's it. That's the tip.

    TONI: That's the tip. It's not exciting. It's the boring stuff that actually works, that's kind of the whole class honestly.

    JESS: Well and speaking of boring stuff that works, I want to hear about the labels, because you mentioned these off mic and I need it on the record.

    TONI: Oh no.

    JESS: Yeah.

    TONI: Okay so I designed these jam labels a few years ago. Like really designed them, I sat down and did it properly, picked a font, got them printed on the good sticker paper. Beautiful labels.

    JESS: And?

    TONI: They're in a drawer. I have never once used them. I open the drawer, I look at how nice they are, and then I grab the masking tape and a Sharpie and write "peach 7/26" on it like an animal.

    JESS: Why.

    TONI: Because the good labels feel like they're for somebody else's jam. Like they're too nice for what's actually happening in my kitchen at ten at night. So they just sit there. It's very on brand for me if you know me at all.

    JESS: I love that you know that about yourself and still can't fix it.

    TONI: Some things you just accept about yourself. I'm a masking tape person pretending to be a label person.

    JESS: Okay, so next session, what are we actually doing.

    TONI: Next time we're doing a real batch start to finish, peach jam, and we're doing it during the class not just talking about it. Everybody canning their own jars, taking them home. If it's still peach season we'll use real peaches, if not I've got a backup plan, don't worry about it.

    JESS: And this is the one where things pop.

    TONI: This is the one where things pop. That sound when a lid seals, that little tink, that's the whole reason I teach this class if I'm honest. I still call somebody every time it happens to me and describe the noise. Nobody cares as much as I do but I don't care that they don't care.

    JESS: Bring a towel, bring jars if you've got them, we'll have extras either way.

    TONI: And wear something you don't love, jam gets everywhere, it's a whole thing.

    JESS: Noted. See everybody next time.

  • podcast_scriptClass podcast — episode 3

    Audio coming soon — show notes below.

    TONI: —and that's the part nobody tells you, that the ring is not the thing sealing the jar. It's just holding the lid in place while the real magic happens underneath.

    JESS: Okay wait, back up, because I walked in mid-sentence and I need the beginning.

    TONI: I'm talking about ring tightness. People crank those rings down like they're closing a submarine hatch. Finger tight, that's it. If you tighten it all the way, the air inside can't escape while it processes, and then it won't seal right.

    JESS: How do you even find that out? Like who tells you that?

    TONI: The extension office told me, after my whole first year of doing it wrong. I was so proud of myself for cranking those rings down nice and snug, felt very safety-conscious. And I had jar after jar not seal and I could not figure out why. Called them, lady on the phone kind of laughed at me, gently. Said finger tight, no more. Changed everything.

    JESS: See, this is why I like sitting in on these. Nobody would guess that tighter is wrong.

    TONI: It's the most counterintuitive thing in the whole class, for sure for sure. People's instinct is always more force, more force. Canning is the opposite of that most of the time.

    JESS: Okay give me the tip. The one thing somebody listening in their car right now could use even if they never take the class.

    TONI: Wipe the rim of the jar before you put the lid on. Every time. Every single jar. A drop of jam, a little pickle juice, whatever, sitting on that rim, and your seal fails. It's the step everybody rushes because it feels like nothing, and it's the one that actually matters most. Takes three seconds. Clean rag, wipe, lid on.

    JESS: That's it? Three seconds?

    TONI: That's it. I've watched more failed seals come from a dirty rim than almost anything else. People blame the lid, blame the jar, blame the recipe. Half the time it's just a sticky rim.

    JESS: Love it, love it. Okay, tell me a story. You said you had one for today.

    TONI: So my best peach year, and this was years ago now, I'm going at like nine, ten at night, peaches everywhere, kitchen's a disaster, and I run out of jars mid-batch.

    JESS: Mid-batch. Like, jars in the water and you're short.

    TONI: Mid-batch. I've got hot peaches, hot syrup, everything ready to go, and I count my jars and I'm four short. So I drive to one store, they're picked clean, this is peak season everybody's canning. Drive to a second store. Get jars. Get home, victory, feeling great about myself.

    JESS: Please tell me this goes wrong.

    TONI: Wrong lids. Bought the wrong size lids for the jars I bought. Midnight, kitchen full of peaches going soft, and I've got mismatched everything.

    JESS: What did Brett say.

    TONI: Brett said nothing, which after fifteen years of marriage I've learned is its own kind of statement. Now I buy lids in March. Like, way before I need them. I've got a whole stash. He still says nothing about it, he's just learned.

    JESS: A hoarder, but responsibly.

    TONI: Responsibly, yes. That's the phrase.

    JESS: Okay, so next session, what are we doing.

    TONI: Next time we're doing the actual hands-on jam session, this is the one where I make everybody check their own seals afterward. That little "tink" sound when the lid pops down, that's my favorite part of the whole class, honestly. I still get excited about it and I've done this a hundred times.

    JESS: You told me once you called your sister just to describe the sound.

    TONI: I did. She did not care even a little. I don't care that she didn't care, it's a great sound.

    JESS: Bring your own jars next time or does the program supply them?

    TONI: Bring jars if you've got them, clean, no chips on the rim. If you don't have jars we've got extras, I always over-buy supplies, it's a whole thing with me. Just show up.

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